Do you remember the movie Karate Kid? Daniel-son is frustrated that he is doing chores for his teacher when he is suppose to be training for a karate tournament. You know “wax on, wax off” and “paint the fence”? Finally his frustration boils over, and his sensei demonstrates how these chores are actually preparing him for his assignment. Daniel-son needed to trust the ways of his master but its hard to do when you’re in the middle of it.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” — Isaiah 55: 8-9
What kind of god would God be if we could wrap our minds around Him and His ways? What kind of god would He be if we could predict where He would go and how He would get there? What kind of god would He be if He worked out of the same small and limited view of the world that we do? He would be small. He would be like us. He could be rivaled.
His ways are not our ways are they?
- Naaman thought the Jordan river was too small and insignificant to cure his leprosy.
- Abraham was told his wife would have a baby yet waited twenty-five years before Sarah gave birth to their first child at 100.
- Noah was asked to build a large boat before rain ever existed.
- Joseph was sold into slavery and jailed before rising to become 2nd in command of a country.
- Moses spent forty years tending sheep before God called him as a deliverer of His people.
God is infinitely BIG, working from a vantage point we can’t even comprehend, with power to execute His plan so great no one can thwart His will for even a millisecond. In His unending wisdom, knowledge, and power, He has planned all of eternity, from start to finish. He offers peace instead of anxiety; clarity instead of confusion; wisdom instead of foolishness.
Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.
So often we want to avoid building boats, sitting & waiting, and tending sheep because we don’t see how it connects to our destination. But God says trust my order of events, do my assignment, and my ways will straighten for you.
Reflection |
Looking back, can you see His Ways in your life?